


Little Talks

by scarecrowstories



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Memory Loss, Reunions, Sibling Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2020-03-20 15:31:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18995446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarecrowstories/pseuds/scarecrowstories
Summary: After Lup gets her body back, she asks Taako if he's mad that she left all those years ago. Of course he wasn't, but they need to have an emotional conversation about it all the same.





	Little Talks

**Author's Note:**

> Hey I love them more than my own life so here's my favorite characters from anything ever having a really emotional conversation. 
> 
> Since I'm on a roll with fics that are in some way related to my love for A Song, this one is absolutely titled after Little Talks by Of Monsters and Men.

"Hey, Taako?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you… Are you mad that I left?"

Taako's heart jumped in his throat. He stopped mixing the cake batter and looked over at Lup, seated at the kitchen table and staring at her hands, tears in her eyes. "Lulu…" he trailed off, unsure what to say. She had only gotten her body back the previous day, and had spent a lot of time crying now that she was finally able to again. Taako didn't want to make her cry any more than she already had; it didn't seem fair.

"Because I'd totally not blame you if you were," she said, clenching her eyes shut as a tear rolled down her cheek. "I can't stop thinking about that morning. I really didn't mean to be gone so long, Taako, I'm so sorry, I was gonna be right back, I swear--"

"Lulu," he said again, more forcefully as he set the bowl back down on the counter and strode over to her. He picked up her hands and gently squeezed them. To see the other half of his soul so sad was devastating, especially when they'd been apart so long. "Look at me," he whispered, "C'mon, open your eyes." As soon as she obliged, he leaned forward and placed a kiss on her forehead. "I was never mad, dingus. I was scared. Fucking terrified. I've never been so goddamn beside myself with horror."

She sniffled and let her hands relax, twining her fingers with her brother's. "I'm sorry," she choked.

"Hey, it's okay, I'm sorry too." At that, Taako felt his own tears start to spill; he sat down in the chair next to her so they were at eye level. "We searched for months. Looked fucking everywhere and then, well… I forgot you. I know it's not my fault, but fuck, I lived a whole decade thinking I was some kinda loner who'd never had a family. I…" He took a shaky breath. "I keep thinking about finding the umbrastaff. How I had no idea. And you said you saw me? Gods, I can't--"

Lup placed a finger on his lips to hush him, both of them still crying. "It's okay. I was so happy to see you, Taako, you can't even imagine. When I realized what happened it nearly broke me to think about how lonely it must have been for you." She gave him a weak smile as she moved her hand to cup his cheek, thumb brushing away the tears. 

Gods, to have her here again, physical, real, present; Taako could barely contain his conflicting emotions at what she'd said. "For me? Lonely for me? You were trapped alone in a cave not knowing if you were ever gonna escape, and you're worried about how lonely I felt?" he said, incredulous. When Lup's gaze remained steady, Taako exhaled sharply. "Yeah, that's just like you. You always were the better twin."

She chuckled and put her hand back in his. "I mean we knew this already, but it's still nice to hear." They sat like that a few moments, relishing in their renewed closeness. It was everything to them, these casual intimacies that made up their relationship. "Thank you for finding me," she finally said, barely a whisper.

Taako smiled and stood back up, tapping her on the shoulder. "No, thank You for coming back. Now get your butt over here and help me finish this cake."

She rolled her eyes. "Didn't we eat enough yesterday?" she groaned half-heartedly, stomach still churning at the thought of food. Nevertheless, she moved to help gather the remaining ingredients.

"Frankly I am insulted," Taako deadpanned, not even looking her way when she said that. They casually bumped hips as they passed one another, a small familiar gesture that Taako was delighted to have back. Since they'd defeated the Hunger and his memories were whole again, he struggled to place these nameless motions he'd gone so long without. There had always been something missing that he couldn't articulate. How had he done it?

Having Lup return to fill the gaps in his memory had been an unbearably unpleasant rush of grief. It was jarring to have his entire self-concept thrown into chaos as the static lifted, revealing that he was never who he thought he'd been for over a decade. To go from believing he had been alone all along to knowing that he hadn't been, but that he was more alone now than ever before, had shattered him. And though that anguish was short-lived with Lup's subsequent return, it still hurt more than he could fathom to recall that feeling.

"You okay?" she asked, placing a hand on his arm gently. So much physical contact that he would have shuddered away from had it been anybody else, an entire decade of keeping everyone at arm's length because he couldn't trust them, and here she was. Patient as ever, kind, affectionate, everything Taako craved beyond reason without ever knowing why. In hindsight, he wondered if some deeper part of him remembered that it was ripped away, longing to be reunited.

"Huh?" Taako was startled from his thoughts by the touch, and had to stop himself from jerking away from the contact on instinct. "Yeah, I'm fine, just thinking about stuff." He set the bowl down again and turned to hug Lup, trying to suppress more tears. It was almost too much to feel all at once.

He wanted to tell her that he missed this, missed her, but that wouldn't have felt entirely true. He never knew it was gone in the first place, despite the hole in his heart that perpetually ached. By the time he knew, he didn't have time to miss every nuance like this before she rose before him like a phoenix, wreathed in flame as she emerged from the umbrella. It had been as if his heart restarted, his lungs finally able to breathe again after drowning. 

He thought about the months they spent searching, pure panic coursing through his veins with every failed attempt to locate her. How exhausted him and Barry were, breaking down into sobs of frustration and trying to soothe one another long enough to search another location. But most painfully, the sensation of forgetting her, realizing with abject horror what was happening and being powerless to stop the memory of her draining away, as if losing his lifeblood. 

She hugged him back, savoring the rise and fall of their chests, the sound of their breathing. "Do you wanna talk about it?" she whispered, voice unsteady. He shook his head and held her tighter. She understood. "Okay, I'm here if you do."

Taako nodded and buried his face in her hair. There would be time for talking about that later. Right now he wanted to savor this moment with her. "Yeah. Welcome home, Lulu."

**Author's Note:**

> Stepping out of town for a bit so there may be no fics for a hot minute but I think I've been pumping them out fast enough that nobody would notice or care. Stay wild, my dudes.


End file.
